Chlorine-Free Paper

Chlorine-free paper is an environmentally preferable alternative
to paper bleached with chlorine. Chlorine and its derivatives
(such as chlorine dioxide)—the most common bleaching agents used
by the pulp and paper industry—are quite harmful to the
environment, particularly the aquatic environment.

Chlorine is used to give paper its white appearance and to remove
"lignin," an element of wood fiber that yellows paper when exposed to
sunlight (as occurs with newsprint). Wood-based paper is brown in its
natural state, as evidenced by brown paper bags and most cardboard boxes,
which are made from unbleached paper.

Both wood-based and tree-free papers are available in the chlorine-free
variety, although the percentage of wood-based papers that are
chlorine-free is very small, while the percentage of tree-free papers that
are chlorine-free is very high.

Chlorine-free paper is categorized as either "totally chlorine-free"
(TCF) or "elemental chlorine-free" (ECF). TCF paper is produced with pulp
that has been bleached without any type of chlorine, or that has
not been bleached at all. ECF papers are produced from pulp that has been
bleached with a chlorine derivative such as chlorine dioxide (ClO2),
but without elemental chlorine (Cl).

TCF papers are much more environmentally preferable than ECF papers
because chlorine derivatives—while less harmful to the environment than
elemental chlorine—still produce toxic chlorinated organic compounds,
including chloroform, a known carcinogen. These compounds are released into
waterways as effluent from the bleaching process, where they produce
environmental damage. Oxygen, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide are some
bleaching alternatives to chlorine and chlorine derivatives.

Recycled papers are typically "processed-chlorine-free" (PCF), which
means that no chlorine or chlorine derivatives were used in the recycling
process, but that papers which were originally bleached with chlorine or
chlorine derivatives may have been used as feedstock. (Papers that were
originally bleached with chlorine or chlorine derivatives retain some of
the chemicals in their fibers.) Some paper recycling processes, such as
those that produce white printing and writing papers, still use chlorine
or chlorine derivatives to bleach the paper whiter. Recycled paper that is
produced with chlorine or chlorine derivatives, is not PCF.

Purchasing Chlorine-Free Paper

There are very few sources of information identifying chlorine-free
papers available for purchase. One known source is
Conservatree's Paper Guide, which identifies some PCF and TCF printing
and writing papers.